Cotton picker



K. F. HAND ET AL.

COTTON PICKER Feb. 'l2 y Filed oct. 11. 1920v Patented Feb. 12, 1924. i

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Application mgaoctoberl1;,f192ow'Sena1 Noi mehr?.`

To all whom may concern Be it known that `we,-KDILAN F. HAND and`JFRANIQ T. CAVIN5 subject'r of Great Britain and citizen of the UnitedStates, respectively, bothy residing inJ Los Angelem county rofLosAngeles, "State` of: California, have'fjointlyy invented fnew and'useful Irripnoveinents inlCott'on Pickers, otfwhich'y the followingwisa specification:

` Thisfinvention Yhastovr dowith y'a cotton pickerf and itis an objectofth'ewinvention toffprovide :certain impnoveinents 'in a `device offthis: chanactert t'o lrender- 'it simple', conn-v paot iinexpensive ttomanufacture, and. feasv an'd'iconvenien'ti toi operate.

In' a generalwayftheirpnesent invention relates tok a cotton 'picken of'the* Lcharacten sety forth'in our copending application enttitledCottonpieken, ffil'ed Aprilr 5, *1920, Seri No. 371542Z. This particularinvention, however,` `provides ceitain` featuresfand infiek provementsoven the device set `i'oith in the above ymentioned application makingit prac-`V ticalfandiini a form toI facili-tatey cotton: pick'-x ing ata very low costf n A' particular 1and noteworthy feature of the presentinvention is the mannerfin which the cotton is handledbywthe inaehine.In practice? onesackorbag after another can be fil'led with cottonwithout-f4 finterfening with the operationy of the' y inaehine" on'withoutddiscontinuing picking and withoutiloss of cotton Yate' the Jtimes'r` when the. sacks or bagsaref being lplaced in or removed "fromthe machine.- The machine ris actually" con structedl Ptosimultaneously: carry. two 'bags andi-is *providedI with. a controlomdistrihutQ ingldevi'ceby whichthe cotton may loel'di-v reoted intoleitheit :of: the bags.' 'It will be understood of' course-'how a fullhag) maybe' reinovedk from the machine-=andf vreplaced by anJemptywbagwhilef the 'othlerjbagfjis being" 'tilletl.'l This feature ofthe 1 invention greatly" facilitates-1in'#making "thev 'machine eiictiveand eticienti fand therefor-aoffpar-V ticulan'comniercialvalueg@ y H 'lAnother noteworthy. :feature of thefinvene ti on is t'he provision.offadjusting-rmeans@ in connection?witlffthefhose=which1 arejnianip'ulated-#floyxtlueE attendants. The: hose .'niay. abe a djnfstedivto a level :where A theyffwillfbe con# venient efor; theattendantsf to'f'handle j :and where; f they 4will l function propenlylfandffef iThe-Wannee inhictseandfeaturestof-irish@ ventionthroughdutfwhich'referenceis hadw a a tof'the-l accoiripaiiyingdrawingsin whichf 1 is :a side elevation of theiinproved device; 2`lis aplanthereof; Fig; an' fenlarged' horizontal sectional `view of;the-adjustable structurein; connection withtheL"ho`sei being a viewtaken aszindicated byline; 3-43 fonjFig. ll; Fig-.f4 is yan enlargedvertical sectional viewfofthej parts shown in 'Fig 3 `being4 a view'takenas" iinan enlarged plane section taken `as;` indicated by line 5 5onFig. l, vbeing a viewk show-` ingl 'the' diist'rihutingP -device5` and`-"`lfl"ig..j6 is `an enlarged detailed Sectional view throi'1gh theAfan, being a fview taken as indicated hyfline-G oIrFigzgl. f p iThroughout the drawingsglnumeral -1A0i des# ignatesthe traine of theInachinewhich is supported at its'forwlardend'fbytraction wheels lli andatjit's rearL end by' wheel'sl'; Thwheels '13 al'elcarriedA on a' shaftI7 'see ycured1 tothe frainelO'by arms 18". gV TheI rarms 1'8` areylvertically and horizontally` adjustably connected toythe-franie 10"'byclamps 1'9; Theclamps 19i grip'npwardly extendigpore tions;y 18a ofarms-I8 and a horizontal part- 10aloffraimel0* This construction permitsthe height of' the handle''lla f and the spac in'g'oflthewheels"13to'lloey varied as desiife'dt T he 'handle *144 comprisesfaineinber'l'lh which extends upwardlyy and rearwardly fromthe' traine'103i "a'ndf a cross har "14:bmounted on the rearend of theniemloeri14E! Thejcross bar 114 'isjforined yat its" ends` withjhand gnipsla'dapted' "to *forni convenientv4 handles for theffope'rator to44 gripwhen steer-ing and handlingfthe'maohine; y The-wheelslf areniountedonashaft'fl which forms thecrankf shaftj' ci? the engine 1632 1 The'wheels'y fare looselyr'mount-edfon shaft` 16" and, V4areC adapted Ato@he"d`1 iven through clutchfmechanisms 16h53v Each clutch inechfanismfisprovide cli-"with: a fcontrol vrod 16?* which rv'extendsfto the; `crossharlflfb'of the handle?y AWith fthi'si constrfuction, the enel gine!can; `be operated continuously "andi 'the in achiiie adi'faroedorV moved-wherfAv `defsi'rfeclj by Suitablefoperaeien'f eff lfclatenesf flea l Ito willjhe oh'ionsfhowgithe fmac'hifne' canfhe veryiAV easilitiirnedlhy?ope 'tion *j of eliehesa'elSne?Wll 'tlfwfaster than theother. j rThe particular Jconstrue.- tion herein so far describedrismore or less common to light tractors and is intended merely toillustrate a form of machine or apparatus 'which' may be advantageouslyused in carrying out the present invention.

A fan or blo-wer 2O is mounted at ythe forward end of t-he frame 10. Theintake or suction pipe 2l of the blower-20 extends vertically upwardly,in the manner clearly shownin Fig. land has a plurality of flex: ibleconduits or. hoseconnected into it at its upper. end. lThe hose22areadapted to be operated ormanipulatedwby attendants in the mannerhereinafter described. These hose 22may be. rubber or iexible metallichose and may be of various lengths to suittheparticular circumstancesunder which the machine is to be operated. In the -particularconstruction shown in `the drawings two hose connect into the front ofthe suction pipe. and one hose connects into each' side. of the'suction'pipe The hose 22 which j connect-into they sides' of thesuction pipe may be'supported by a horizontal cross arm l24.

The suction pipe 21 isadjustable or extensiblefbeing formed of twosections 25 and 25EL one slidable within the other. lhe section 25a isthe lowermosti and is connected directly to the blower 20, while thesection 25 is uppermost and is adapted to slidably fit within the lowersection 25a. The fitting of the upper section into the lower oneprevents cotton being4 caught at the' joint between the two sectionsasit` passes downwardly to .the fan. yThe `joint between .the twosections 25 Vand 25a is sealed by ai band 27, preferably leather, or.the like, which is arranged around it in the manner shown in'Fig. 4. Asplit clamping ring 28 is arranged around the band 27 andA is formedwith flanges 23 which carry bolts 29. The bolts 29 may be tightened sothaty the two sections 25 and 25.a are solidly held or clamped againstrelative movement or they may be tightened so thaty the two sectionsmay-'be moved or adjusted by hand. In practice it may be found desirableto ,adjust the suctionpipe to the. proper height for the particularcircumstancesunder which the machine is to operate and4 thenl solidlyand securely clamp it in that position.` It will be understood howthesuctionv pipe' maybe adjusted to a heightwhere lthe cotton willl bedrawn through the rhose 22. in the most effective manner and with theleastamount vof resistance, vThe details of Vthe connection betweeny thesections 25 and 25a,L are clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4 ofthe drawings.It will be noted in the drawings that the'upper part of the bland 27-isconsiderably thicker than the lower part thus permitting of the splityringbemgt of `unfermdiameter and yet causing the section 25 andthesection 25a to be gripped uniformly when the clamping bolts 29 aretightened.- 'Ihis particular portion of the machine is believed to beparticularly noteworthy in that it provides a novel, simple means foradjusting the length of the suction pipe and thereby adjusting the hoseto the most desirable and advantageous height. The particularconstruction at this part of the machine is noteworthy in that itprovides a conveniently adjustable structure which is simple andinexpensive to manufacture and which does not interfere with theoperation ofthe machine in any way. c

f, The blower 20 comprises generally a suitable casing into whichextends a shaft 40.

A plurality of paddles 39 yare carried within the casing on arms 38which extend from a hub 88a mounted on the shaft40. InV the preferredlform of construction a disk `38b is carried on the shaft 40 in themanner shown in Fig. 6 to support or brace the'paddles 39. In theyparticular form of construction herein set forth the casing comprises acentral vmember 42 `which extends around ythe paddles 39 and is securedor carried between two plates 44. The member 42 and plates 44 may beadvantageously connected by angle irons 43 in the manner clearly shownin Fig. 6. A bracketV or casting 45 is bolted to one of the plates 44and is formed with a bearing 45a in which is carried the shaft 405y andis formed withV a foot 48 adapted to be. bolted to the frame lO. Abracket or casting 46 isbolted to the other plate 44 and is formed witha neck part 47 which carries the section 25a of the suction pipe andconnects the section 25L with the interior of the fan casing, `and isformed with a foot V49 adapted to be bolted to` theframe l0. The vfan isdriven'from shaft 16 by a belt 50 carried on pulleys 51 and 52 mountedon shafts 16 and f4() respec tively. The shaft 16 being a constantlyoperating member the fan is operated at all times even when 'the machineis `not being moved. It will be readily understood how the particulararrangement and construc- Y tion just set forth is simple andinexpensive and how it permits of the fan being easily and quickly takenapart for cleaning7 etc.

-The discharge pipe 54 of the fan is-connected with a V-shaped,:orforked, distributing pipe 56 by a vflexible Apipe 55. The distributingpipe is mounted on the upwardly and rearwardly extending `member 141'01Cthehandle 14 to be near the cross bar 14 and to have one of 'itssideportions 57 on each side of the member 14a, as clearly shown in thedrawings.l "The outer end portion of each side portion preferably turns,downf wardlyso that. the cotton ywill be discharged dpwnwardly. A valveis arranged Vin the distributing ',ppeatthe junction 'of the 'eideportions 57. The valve is carried on a stem 6() which has an operatinglever 61 mounted on it at the exterior of the pipe. From inspection ofthe drawings, particularly of Fig. 5 of the drawings, it will beunderstood how the valve can be operated to close off either one of theside portions and cause all of the cotton to discharge through the otherside portion, and how it can be operated to allow both of the sideportions to be open so that the cotton will discharge through both ofthem. When the valve is thrown to either side, that is so as to closeeither one of the side portions, it will remain in that posit-ion untilpositively operated or moved by the lever 61.

Two bags are carried by the handle 14 to receive the cotton from thedistributing pipe 56. Each bag is carried by hooks 66, mounted on themember 14 and cross arm 14h, so that its top is open and so the one ofthe side portions 57 extends slightly into it. The bags being carried bythe hooks can be easily arranged in place and removed from the machine.

ln the preferred form of construction a guard or shield 8O is arrangedaround the machine so that it can be passed between the rows of cottonplants without injuring or catching them.

In the operation of machine the engine 16 is constantly operated causingthe fan to be constantly operated and permitting of the machine beingmoved whenever desired. The outer end of each hose is placed by anattendant at or near ripe bolls of cotton so that the cotton is drawninto the hose by the sucking action of the fan. It will be understoodhow the cotton from the several hose enters the suction pipe 21, passesthrough the fan, passes through the discharge pipe 54 and the conduct55, and finally through the distributing pipe 56 from whence it isdischarged into the bags 65. Anwoperator manipulates the clutchmechanisms to move the machine as the cotton is gathered, and removesthe bags from the hooks as they are filled and replaces them by theempty ones. It is obvious how the operator can manipulate the valve 58so that one bag is being lled while a full bag is being removed and anempty one put in its place. This manner of operation is continuous andmakes for quick efficient picking of cotton. When a machine isconstructed with four hose as shown in the drawings two rows of cottoncan be picked at a time. Two attendants can pass between the rows ofcotton between which the machine is moved and can each pick ythe cottonon the inner side of one of the rows. Two other attendants can passalong the outer side of the rows and can each pick the cotton on theouter side of one of the rows.

We claim- In a cotton picking machine of the character described,supporting wheels, power means supported by the wheels, a releasabledriving connection between the power means and supporting wheels, ablo-wer, a driving connection between the power means and the blower, ahose in connection with the intake of the blower, a handle in connectionwith t-he parts supported by the wheels by which the machine may beguided, control means for the iirst mentioned driving connection andextending to the handle so that said driving connection can becontrolled by a person operating the handle, a conduit in connectionwith the discharge of the blower and extending to thehandle, and a bagdetachably carried at the handle to receive cotton from said conduit. y

Tn witness that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto subscribed ournames this 30th day of September, 1920.

KEDILAN F. HAND. FRANK T. CAVIN. Witness:

VIRGINIA BERINGER.

